Early struggles come back to bite Bulldogs
(Photo courtesy of JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY) Freshman Kelsey Cessna goes up for a shot over a pair of Lake City defenders during a game Wednesday night at Les Rogers Court.
(Photo courtesy of JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY) Senior Dawson Driggs tries to weave through the Lake City defense Wednesday at Les Rogers Court. Driggs finished with 9 points and five rebounds in the game.
SANDPOINT — Coming into Wednesday night’s matchup, Sandpoint girls basketball knew they would be at a distinct height disadvantage with Lake City’s 6-foot-4-inch Brooklyn Rewers at post.
What they didn’t expect was the Timberwolves to shoot the lights out from behind the 3-point line in the first half en route to a 60-42 victory over the Bulldogs.
Sandpoint started the game slow and had a handful of mistakes early on, finishing with 16 turnovers in the contest.
“I didn’t do a good job of getting the kids prepared for this game and doing stuff to take away those errors,” head coach Will Love said.
Lake City hit five 3-pointers in the first 16 minutes of action and Aubrey Avery, who had been out with a broken wrist since the first game against Sandpoint, knocked down four of them.
“When she’s out there ... they’re one of the best teams in the state,” Love said about Avery.
With the threat to easily make a pass down low to Rewers always in play, the Sandpoint defense was naturally sucked in to protect the paint. Unfortunately, that gave Lake City shooters like Avery some space and they took advantage as the Timberwolves jumped out to a 19-3 first quarter lead.
The Bulldogs stepped up their play on offense in the second quarter but it wasn’t enough as the Timberwolves took a 32-12 advantage into halftime.
Love said if they could’ve scored at least 20 points in the first half, it would’ve been a much different game.
“People are going to look at the first half and say it was about [Lake City’s] outside shooting,” Love said, “well really there’s some things that we need to do better at, but for us it was that we weren’t able to keep pace.”
Sandpoint had its hands full with Rewers in the third quarter as she scored 8 points with ease in the paint. Senior Maddie Morgan and junior Kaylee Banks did all they could to keep Sandpoint in the game, scoring a combined 10 points in the quarter. The Bulldogs trailed by 24 points entering the fourth quarter.
Sandpoint continued to fight down the stretch outscoring Lake City 18-12 in the final eight minutes but it wasn’t enough as the Bulldogs fell to the Timberwolves for the second time this season.
“The second half we showed we can play with teams like that,” Love said.
Banks finished with 12 points while Morgan added 9 and senior Dawson Driggs tallied 9 points and five rebounds.
The Bulldogs (7-6) play at West Valley 4:30 p.m. Saturday.
Lake City 19 13 16 12 — 60
Sandpoint 3 9 12 18 — 42
LAKE CITY — Pickford 6, Avery 20, Miller 6, Chase 0, Jo Parks 3, Stoddard 3, Shanley 0, Roberts 0, Rewers 16, Reynolds 0, Hawkins 4, Munoz 2.
SANDPOINT — Cessna 2, Lish 0, Day. Driggs 0, Morgan 9, Daw. Driggs 9, Edwards 0, Steiger 0, Phillips 3, Larson 7, Platte 0, Banks 12.